Product profile
IAI Heron
IAI Heron is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft system for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and maritime patrol missions. It carr...
Facts
- Company
- Israel Aerospace Industries
- Product type
- uav
- Status
- commercial
- Website
- https://www.iai.co.il/p/heron
About IAI Heron
Heron is a medium-altitude long-endurance aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of approximately 1,270 kilograms and payload capacity up to 470 kilograms. It can operate for as long as 45 hours at altitudes up to 35,000 feet and carry as many as six payloads simultaneously.
Mission equipment can include electro-optical systems, radar, signals intelligence, communications relay and maritime sensors. Automatic take-off and landing, satellite communications and beyond-line-of-sight control support extended missions in remote operating areas. Heron has been supplied to more than 20 national users and has accumulated hundreds of thousands of operational flight hours.
Market context
aircraft, defence, fielded_uas
Summary
Type: MALE UAV
Core: Long endurance
Function: ISR
Audience: Defense
Specifications
- ceiling
- 9,144 m / 30,000 ft
- endurance_hours
- Up to 45 hours h
- length
- 8.5 m
- max_takeoff_weight
- 1,270 kg
- operational_role
- MALE UAS for long-endurance intelligence gathering
- payload_capacity_kg
- Up to 470 kg kg
- range
- Line-of-sight range under 250 km
- task_scope
- High-resolution intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- wingspan
- 16.6 m
Operations
- Product detail
- aircraft, defence, fielded_uas
Research, Articles and recent verified events
- IAI and Merlin sign MoU for autonomous cargo-aircraft technology — 2026-07-23
- IAI highlights Heron family combat performance and operational role — 2025-11-18
- IAI highlights Heron MK II integrated COMINT and ELINT capability — 2025-11-18
- IAI signs $145 million agreements for long-range loitering munitions — 2023-11-20
- IAI wins $100 million airborne SIGINT solutions contract — 2023-05-01
- IAI signs UAV cooperation agreement with IAR-Brasov — 2021-10-28
- IAI signs $200 million UAS services contract with Asian country — 2021-06-01
- IAI and EDGE sign agreement to develop advanced counter-UAS solution — 2021-03-11